Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is so much more than just a World War II novel. At heart, it's the story of a true friendship between two young women. "Verity," a wireless operator, parachutes in to Nazi-occupied France from a disabled plane flown by Maddie, her best friend. Verity is captured by Nazi intelligence shortly after landing. She's tortured and imprisoned, not knowing what has become of Maddie, or whether her friend is even still alive. In return for a few more torture-free days, Verity promises to write everything she knows about the British war effort. What she writes is the story of her friendship with Maddie.

If you can suspend disbelief on that one point -- that the Nazi intelligence officer would allow Verity to write such a rambling "confession" of questionable usefulness -- this is a phenomenal book. It's very hard to write anything more about it without spoiling some aspect of the story, which is by turns sweet and tragic and funny and heartbreaking. And the last couple pages brought tears to my eyes. Don't miss this book -- it's definitely earned a spot as one of my favorites of the year, and the best World War II story I've read since The Book Thief.

(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)